(un)fortunately there are less audiophiles than consumers perfectly happy with 128kb mp3's pumping out of substandard earphones. and as long as that is the case: apple > sony.
I'm not trying to take any side myself here, but it does sound like you're implying that it's the "audiophiles" versus the "mindless masses", when I think you'll find there is also a significant population of people who value good quality sound but who can't necessarily discern any difference in quality between the top brands of mp3 player. I've owned models from three of them, and I certainly can't.
This being said, I have an iAudio and, using the same headphones, the sound is noticeably better than my girlfriend's (more expensive) iPod.
Since the previous comment didn't just talk about mp3s in general but specifically mentioned 210Kbps VBR I think you'll find it an eye opening experience.
What is a blind ABX test? http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=1629...